Didier Drogba departure is costing Chelsea, says Neil Warnock

Leeds manager Neil Warnock believes Chelsea are paying the price for letting Didier Drogba leave in the summer and is relieved he won’t be starting up front against his side tonight.

Chelsea have already missed out on three trophies this
season having been beaten in the Community Shield, Uefa Super Cup and Fifa Club
World Club Cup and they have also been knocked out in the group stages of the
Champions League.

Drogba (above) thrived in such big games during his eight years at
Stamford Bridge and scored nine goals in major finals, including their success
in the Champions League and FA Cup last term.

The 34-year-old wanted to stay, but Chelsea refused to give
him the two-year contract he wanted and he joined Shanghai Shenhua on a free
transfer instead.

One of the reasons was so that £50m forward Fernando Torres,
who is still struggling to make an impact at the club, could be guaranteed to
be first choice striker.

Warnock feels that decision has come back to haunt them and
told Standard Sport: “They have clearly missed some experienced players through
injury this season, but if I was Chelsea manager the one I’d miss most is
Didier Drogba. I would have done anything to keep him if I was at Chelsea and
yet they let him leave on a free transfer.

“He epitomised what Chelsea was all about when they won all
those trophies and his goalscoring record was tremendous. I loved him as a
player.”

Chelsea interim coach Rafael Benitez may choose to rest the
beleaguered Torres, who failed to score from six yards against Corinthians on
Sunday to send the Fifa Club World Cup Final into extra time, to allow a fit-
again Daniel Sturridge to start instead.

Significantly, Warnock would prefer to see Torres in the
line-up, but he claims it is not because Leeds are more confident they can keep
him quiet.

He added: “If I was Torres I’d want to play against
us! We don’t have a very good defensive record this season and we have conceded
a lot of goals.

“Obviously there is a bitter rivalry in the past between the
fans. It looks like it is going to be a sell-out. Our supporters could make the
difference.”